Monday, April 05, 2010

Perfection & Phucco

These new guys are alright. Roy Halladay with the W on 7 strong innings, Placido Polanco with a grand slam and 6 rbi, David Herndon with a scoreless inning in his MLB debut, and Danys Baez helped Antonio Bastardo work out of trouble. The Phillies currently hold on to perfection- 1 win, no losses.

Jack Tashner officially became a Phucco today when he pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning against the Dodgers in the Pirates Opening Day victory.

10 comments:

I got to the stadium early to learn that the cheapass gNats are no longer (after doing so for 5 years) offering the free shuttle from the free parking at RFK stadium to Nats Park. Alas, I found my way to some decent parking where the tailgating began. Obama threw out a nice curve to start if off. The game was excellent. A shaky first inning turned into near perfection for the Doc. Unfortunately, I got up to get my requisite burger from 5 Guys just as Polly did his magic. I missed the grand salami, but I saw the grand the opening day.

"'I think everybody in here has that same excitement," he [Halladay] said. "It's a chance to go out and play for a championship. I think that's what every player wants to do. So feeling like you have a chance, obviously you have to go out and do it, but it's a good feeling, knowing there are so many guys behind you doing their jobs. It takes a lot of the pressure off. You go out and feel like you're just chipping in.'"

"Yeah, feel free to remember that when you look up in September and he's like 24-3. He's just another chipper-inner."

Oh, and if you guys revive "Tale Of the Tape" be sure to mention that Nationals Park is woefully understaffed. Everywhere you went, you waited in line for everything. I waited 15 minutes for a hot dog - emphasis on hot. I paid my 9 bucks for two dogs, and was delivered two COLD(!) meat like substances that looked like the day old dog poop from my neighbor's dog in my yard.

I politely asked the concessionaire if she had any warm hot dogs. All she did was roll her eyes and shout, "Next!" I wanted to throw the dog back in her face. Seriously. 9 dollars for two cold, shitty hot dogs and a bitchy concession clerk.

Oh, and good luck trying to find french fries.

At least the security guards were polite at the end of the game. Almost every one I passed thanked us for coming and told us to come again.

Hey Jon, I was in 315 behind home plate. From my angle Obama's pitch looked near perfect. Couldn't see the arc at all from there. I'm going back to tomorrow's game as well in nearly the same section.

Security was noticeably ramped up at the entrance gates, but it wasn't anything that bad. Only took about 10-15 minutes to through the doors. Traffic going home, on the other hand, was horrendous! I only live about 30 miles away and it took 2.5 hours!

I must say the "booing" of Obama was a little inappropriate. Political views aside, we can all agree that baseball is our favorite pastime. No need to boo anyone (not even Bush!) if they're symbolically throwing out a pitch. Loved the Sox hat. Gotta respect a guy with loyalties.

From where I was down the right field line, it seemed like the crowd was mixed cheers and boos, but you could hear both. People are always going to boo, because they think (perhaps rightfully so) that it's their birth right to voice their opinion, no matter how disrespectful it is. Political leanings aside, I'm more of a "cheer the Office, not the man" guy when it comes to public appearances of this type.

I got there an hour ahead of time and made it through security in 15 mins. I left tickets for my folks at will call. They arrived on time and waited 45 minutes to get through security. They said the natives were getting restless while they waited to get in.

As my earlier hot dog rant displayed, I was supremely disappointed in the stadium amenities. You can't see the field from everywhere on the concourse - and this stadium was designed after the Brick Cit House. Shouldn't such a feature be a requirement in 2010? Also, the concessions were cramped and poorly laid out - finding french fries took way too long and only one cash register was dedicated for each concession stand. The concessions at the other new stadiums I've visited - CBP, Camden Yards, PNC Park, and the new Yankee Stadium - make use of a design that is much more sensible for customer flow.

Lastly, DC's traffic is epic. You are right there. My fiance and I took the metro in, but because of the crowds, decided to walk to the stadium past the cherry blossoms and along the water front. Fully an hour and a half before the game, traffic was gridlocked for two miles. People were exiting their cars and joining us on our walk to the stadium. Metro ride out to New Carrollton after the game was seamless.

All in all, a great day for Phils fans! Beautiful city, great transit system, average stadium, woeful team.

The stadium is pretty bland. As for food, all you need to know is Five Guys behind center field. Pretty sad that the stadium has been here for 2 full seasons and still not a single bar/store/retail anything has opened up in the huge open lot across the street. The one single nice feature of the park is the view of the Capital building. However, you have to be standing in the exact right spot to see it. Otherwise, it sucks.